Sir, I find the tenor of your editorial of October 14th (The Bail Amendment) quite disturbing. While you agonise over preventive detention you state public unease about crime and criminality must hold sway. However this public unease has to a large extent been whipped up by the media.
By making wild assertions that any policeman or journalist could tell us how Garda statistics are only the tip of the iceberg - you are adding to the hysteria. Felloni was free due to long delays in the courts. Regarding other serious unreported crime you mention how can this be quantified? How much of this crime was committed by those. on bail?
If The Irish Times is in possession of such information then there is an onus on you to state, which murders or other serious crimes would have been prevented if a stricter bail regime applied. - Yours, etc.,
Charles Street,
Dublin 1.